Genius Club

“Elon Musk?”

Lin Xian crouched, trying to find the perfect angle to view the polarized light on the LCD television screen. His eyes squinted as he scrutinized the screen carefully.

“No mistake…”

He shifted to the side, watching as sunlight reflected off the TV’s screen. The burnt areas didn’t reflect light smoothly, showing black marks, while the unburnt areas reflected light evenly, revealing a white background.

Black letters on a white canvas. VV had cleverly used the burnt marks on the LCD screen to write a message: E-L-O-N M-U-S-K!

Lin Xian pulled up a chair and sat in front of the TV, resting his chin on his hand as he gazed at the familiar name. This was the name of the world’s richest man, known to everyone. For a long time, his name had dominated media headlines.

Earlier this year, during a scientific charity gala, Musk had specifically sought out Lin Xian, donating five hundred million dollars as a greeting gift. They shook hands, and Musk gave him a seal from the Genius Club, confirming his identity.

Since then, there had been no further interaction between Musk and Lin Xian. That was until the day of the time-space particle capture operation, when Kevin Walker hijacked the US X-37B space shuttle and attempted to crash it from space. Musk launched a starship rocket to destroy it, averting the crisis and saving Lin Xian and his team.

From that moment, Lin Xian’s perception of Elon Musk was encapsulated in a few words: Enemy or Friend. He couldn’t discern if Musk was an ally or an adversary.

Even though Musk saved them by launching a rocket during a life-or-death moment, in the deceitful and cunning Genius Club, who could guarantee that this wasn’t part of Musk’s plan?

Even an organization like the Seven Deadly Sins knew to approach Lin Xian as a Rhine Cat enthusiast to collect intelligence. How could Elon Musk, who was even more formidable, not have his own schemes?

There was no evidence to show that Musk and Kevin Walker were in cahoots. Kevin frequently treated Musk’s satellites like toys, tossing them around. Even among the best of friends, such actions would test their limits. Therefore, it was evident that Musk and Walker were not on the same side, or at least… they weren’t allied against a common enemy.

After that thrilling space battle, it seemed like both geniuses had lost, with no clear winner. But Lin Xian didn’t believe things were as simple as they appeared. They were geniuses from the Genius Club… such extreme talents didn’t lose easily. Though it seemed like both had suffered significant losses, that might only be on the surface. Behind the scenes, in the shadows, in the dark… who knew if they had actually won? Perhaps it was a win-win situation for both of them!

So, Lin Xian never firmly categorized Musk as friend or foe. Subconsciously, he viewed Kevin Walker as an enemy since Kevin had genuinely attacked him, using the Starlink satellites to crush him and hijacking the US space shuttle to crash into him. This definitely marked Kevin as an enemy.

Conversely, Elon Musk had never physically attacked Lin Xian. Instead, he had used a rocket to save him, which leaned more towards being a friend or ally. But now…

Seeing the burn marks on the TV left by VV, with Musk’s name, Lin Xian had to rethink this issue.

“In the final critical moments, VV did three things.”

Lin Xian softly summarized:

“First, destroyed all communication network equipment on X Country’s space shuttle to prevent Kevin Walker from hijacking it.”

“Second, burned all electrical wires and appliances at home to create a complete power and network shutdown, protecting the last laptop.”

“Third, burned Elon Musk’s name onto the TV screen to remind me of something, to caution me about this person.”

Comparing these actions, the first two were of utmost importance, life-and-death matters. So, it’s not hard to guess that the third was equally significant. Otherwise, VV wouldn’t have risked being obliterated to leave this reminder in the final critical moments, perhaps with only a fraction of a second left.

“So it seems…”

“The person who killed VV… is likely Elon Musk!”

Lin Xian stood up. He paced around the room, his mind racing with possibilities. He closed his eyes, taking in the faint burnt smell of electrical wires in the air, starting to deduce Musk’s motives and the deeper meaning behind his actions.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Lin Xian’s shoes scuffed the floor, kicking up a bit of dust that settled back down. After several minutes, Lin Xian stopped pacing. He looked back at the burn marks on the TV. He had figured it out.

Considering all the clues so far, he could deduce two possibilities for Elon Musk’s actions:

“The first possibility: Musk had a long-standing plan, but VV’s existence was too powerful and would hinder his plan. So, Musk used some equally advanced method to eliminate VV. Musk’s real target might not be me or the time-space particle but Kevin Walker. Whether or not I went to capture the time-space particle, he would launch a rocket to disrupt Kevin Walker’s actions.”

This was the first hypothesis. Given that Yellow Finch was also a member of the Genius Club and came from the future, it was plausible to assume that Musk could have acquired some advanced technology to eliminate VV.

Reflecting on what VV had said, Musk was completely unafraid of being monitored 24/7, living his playboy lifestyle for all to see. Yet, when he went to the observation tower to watch the rocket, he didn’t take his phone, and there were no electronic devices or wires there. This was very suspicious. It indicated that Musk wasn’t simply enjoying the view from the tower. The tower, being disconnected from power and the internet, was a natural shield, a perfect defense against hackers like Kevin Walker and super AIs like VV.

He must have been plotting something at the tower, maybe even hiding something. Because of the power and internet blackout, neither VV nor Kevin Walker could uncover Musk’s scheme. In this scenario, Musk did kill VV but wasn’t targeting Lin Xian. He merely wanted to interfere with Kevin Walker’s plans.

That’s the first hypothesis. Then there’s the second possibility:

“Elon Musk wanted me to capture the time-space particle but didn’t want it to be intact. So, he killed VV to prevent me from capturing a complete time-space particle, then covered my back by blocking Kevin Walker’s attacks. This way, I could continue capturing the particle without VV, but its energy would quickly deplete. Even if I ultimately captured it, it would be useless.”

The second hypothesis was far more complex than the first. Lin Xian, looking back with hindsight, had pieced together these key events, forcibly deducing this possibility.

If this second hypothesis were true, Elon Musk was truly terrifying. It would mean everything was under his control and knowledge. He would be even more formidable than Yellow Finch. Yellow Finch had admitted that the history after boarding the space shuttle was beyond her understanding, unknown territory for her as well.

So how could Elon Musk know all this? He certainly wasn’t a time traveler; his life history was well-known worldwide. Elon Musk was born in South Africa, started learning programming at age ten, developed his first game at thirteen, and made his first fortune. He dropped out of Stanford to start his business and became a millionaire by twenty-eight and a billionaire by thirty. His life story was that of a genius of the times.

Such a complete life history meant he couldn’t be a time traveler. So, how did he know all this?

Could it be… He had someone like Yellow Finch guiding him, just as she guided Lin Xian? Or perhaps… It was because he was a member of the Genius Club, giving him access to future knowledge?

Time traveler or Genius Club. The answer had to be one of these two options, right?

“In any case.”

Lin Xian walked forward, his hand touching the burn marks on the TV screen. “Better to be cautious.”

Afterward, Lin Xian tidied himself up. He changed into more comfortable clothes, went downstairs, and got into his chauffeur-driven Alphard, heading to Donghai University to find Liu Feng.

Figuring out the mystery of Elon Musk wasn’t particularly difficult. It depended on when he could get an invitation to the Genius Club and formally meet this group of geniuses. Yellow Finch had mentioned during their first meeting that getting an invitation to the Genius Club wasn’t difficult for Lin Xian. This indicated that, according to the known history, he was very likely to join the Genius Club, a foregone conclusion.

When would the invitation arrive? Where would he collect it? Lin Xian had a feeling… it would be soon. He could sense it. He was getting closer to the core of all these mysteries.

Bang. With a light sound, the Alphard’s electric door closed, and Lin Xian reclined in the back seat.

“To Donghai University, Liu Feng’s lab.”

…

An hour later.

On the campus of Donghai University.

In the Rhine United Laboratory, on the second floor, Lin Xian picked up the seemingly ordinary silver rectangular electronic clock, its numbers as steady as ever, still showing 0.0000000.

This was the “Time-Space Clock” named by Liu Feng. Based on the theory of different Planck Constants in different universes and times, it was designed to measure the “time-space curvature” caused by the butterfly effect of time-space changes, which meant the deviation angle of the world line, used to observe the magnitude of time-space changes.

“Are you sure it’s been calibrated to zero this time? Is it really zeroed?” Lin Xian asked.

Liu Feng nodded: “This time, there’s no doubt. I guarantee it!”

He pointed to the rice cooker in the corner of the lab, which contained the hard-won time-space particle: “I used that time-space particle as a reference to zero the Time-Space Clock. Don’t be fooled by it still showing 0.0000000. It’s fundamentally different from the previous 0.0000000.”

“I won’t bore you with the complicated theory. In essence, if there’s any change in the time-space we’re currently in, leading to a deviation in the future trajectory and a change caused by the time-space butterfly effect, resulting in a new future…”

Liu Feng walked over and patted the Time-Space Clock: “Then the numbers on this Time-Space Clock will definitely change! Believe me, Lin Xian, this time it won’t be wrong. The numbers will definitely, absolutely change!”

“And the changed numbers will be our basis for further research into Universal Constants. So… let’s wait and see when the numbers on the Time-Space Clock change. I’ll inform you immediately.”

Lin Xian looked down at the Time-Space Clock. Staring at the seemingly unchanging string of zeros… He had looked at this string of zeros for so long that he couldn’t believe it would ever change. Would the numbers really move?

If one day, this string of zeros suddenly turned into other numbers, Lin Xian would be as shocked as seeing an iron tree blossom. Recalling last time, when the second dream transitioned into the third, the Time-Space Clock didn’t change at all. That was because there was no external reference for calibration. Even later, when the third dream transitioned into the fourth, and the Time Bank emerged out of nowhere in the fourth dream, the Time-Space Clock’s numbers didn’t change.

But now, the “Time-Space Clock” had been zeroed. When the next time-space change occurred, or when the fourth dream transitioned into the fifth… The numbers on the Time-Space Clock would definitely change. Then, they could measure the time-space curvature!

Overall, despite being slow, the progress of various matters was yielding results.

“Liu Feng.” Lin Xian pointed to the eight zeros on the Time-Space Clock, with seven decimal places: “Why is the time-space curvature always less than 1, even far less than 1? Can’t it be an integer?”

Liu Feng shook his head: “Not possible, unless there’s a cataclysm.”

“In fact, from our observation within the light cone, we can’t perceive or observe the occurrence of time-space changes.”

“If the time-space curvature changes were visible to the naked eye, the world-line shifts, and future changes… why would we need the Time-Space Clock?”

“Because these changes in the time-space curvature are imperceptible, the value must be very small.”

Lin Xian nodded. That made sense. He could observe every time-space change because his vantage point was 600 years in the future. Without the dream world’s verification, he wouldn’t be able to pinpoint when a time-space change would occur. Like the transformation of Coco Cat into Rhine Cat and the sudden emergence of the Time Bank airship. These time-space changes were unobservable in the present; only by verifying in the dream world 600 years later could they be confirmed.

From a mathematical chaos theory perspective, this was also reasonable. A 600-year time-space butterfly effect was enough to turn any minuscule number after the seventh decimal point into an astronomical figure.

This was what people meant by “a miss by an inch, a miss by a mile.” An extremely small angular deviation, if the distance traveled is long enough, would lead to a completely different direction.

“So, what do you think… if one day, the numbers on the Time-Space Clock change…”

Lin Xian raised his head and looked at Liu Feng: “What do you think they would change to?”